Code of Conduct
Purpose:
ICLEI and the City of São Paulo are committed to providing a safe congress experience for everyone, regardless of sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, race, ethnicity, religion (or lack thereof), social status, physical appearance or body size.
Participants are expected to behave with integrity and respect towards all fellow participants attending or involved in the congress.
Applicability:
These rules apply equally for all attendees, speakers, exhibitors, volunteers and any other persons attending or involved in the event in any capacity. We expect all persons to comply with these rules at all event venues, including the mobile workshops, and any
conference-related social events, regardless if attending in-person or virtually. ICLEI and the City of São Paulo commit to implementing the Code of Conduct.
The Code of Conduct is not legal or prescriptive in nature. It supplements, and does not affect, the application of other relevant policies, regulations, rules and laws, including laws regulating the premises in which the event takes place and any applicable host country agreements.
Prohibited conduct:
Harassment
Harassment of congress participants in any form or fora during the congress shall not be tolerated. Harassment in any form because of sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, race, ethnicity, religion (or lack thereof), social status, physical appearance, body size or any other reason is prohibited at the event.
Harassment of congress participants includes, but are not limited to:
- offensive or hateful language, including in written communications
- deliberate intimidation
- stalking
- following
- harassing photography or recording
- sustained disruption of talks or side events
- inappropriate physical contact
- unwelcome sexual attention
Discrimination or hateful language during sessions*
The moderator shall strive to create and maintain an inclusive and respectful space for everyone. If a speaker or any other participant makes an inappropriate comment during a session (either in person or virtual) the moderator is entitled to intervene. The moderator shall give the offender the opportunity to apologize. If the offender refuses and continues with the inappropriate behavior, the moderator shall ask the person to leave the session. The moderator shall report the incident to the Anti-Harassment Group through the channels described below.
Harassment and discrimination in virtual spaces*
The app and other virtual spaces (such as social media) will be monitored by the organizing staff. If a participant makes derogatory or demeaning comments about an individual or group of people, or if they share inappropriate content, they will be asked to delete it immediately. If they refused, the comments shall be deleted by the moderators. The offender will receive a warning and the incident will be logged. If the offender continues with the discriminatory, offensive or harassment practices they shall be blocked in the Congress app.
Ultimately, individuals or groups violating these rules may be sanctioned or expelled from the congress without a refund at the discretion of the congress organizers.
Complaint process:
A participant who feels that they have been harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, may report the matter immediately to the event organizers. A participant should never knowingly make a false or misleading claim about prohibited conduct.
Channels for complaints
We encourage reporting any incident either to:
- Email to safe-event@iclei.org
- Message through the app to Safe Event
- Helpdesk where they will direct the complaint to the Anti-Harassment
Any Congress staff from ICLEI/City of São Paulo should be able to direct to the above mentioned options. All complaints will be treated confidentially.
Taking action
The congress organizers will be expected to take appropriate action, ranging from warning the offender to full expulsion from the conference with no refund. Participants asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately.
The victim of alleged harassment may also seek help from other relevant authorities, such as the police, bearing in mind the applicable legal framework.
Prohibition of retaliation:
Threats, intimidation or any other form of retaliation against a participant who has made a complaint or provided information in support of a complaint are prohibited. The congress organizers will take any appropriate action needed to prevent and respond to retaliation.
